Baker Without Borders

The other day, I simmered dried figs in water and pureed them for my six-month-old twin sons, who are just beginning to eat solid foods. I used the leftover fig jam as a filling for these beautiful, swirly challah loaves. Cinnamon makes an appearance twice, mixed in with the filling (along with walnuts, which add … Continue reading Cinnamon Fig Challah

These cookies are so gooey, buttery, and addictive, you would never guess they’re made with whole wheat flour and olive oil; there’s no butter in them at all! Those ingredients, along with maple syrup, brown sugar, and pecans, add an earthy, complex flavor to an otherwise classic cookie. Click here for the recipe, in my … Continue reading Wholesome Chocolate Chunk Cookies

With strawberry jam swirled into the batter, and freshly brewed coffee in what appears to be ordinary chocolate frosting, these light-as-air chocolate cupcakes are full of fun, surprising flavors. I had a jar of delicious homemade jam on hand, made by a friend who went strawberry picking at a local farm, but the store-bought variety … Continue reading Mocha Strawberry Cupcakes

This easy one-bowl recipe came together one evening when I was craving chocolate chip cookies, but wanted to avoid the richness of butter. Gooey yet crisp, slightly salty, and loaded with tiny bursts of dark chocolate, these are just as tasty as the classic cookie, but lighter, with a subtly fruity flavor from the olive oil. … Continue reading Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lime juice and homemade condensed milk are the star ingredients in these tangy, sweet, and slightly salty pie bars. Condensed milk is very easy to prepare: just simmer milk and sugar on the stove, stirring frequently, until thick. It’s so much better than the canned variety! I paired the filling with a thin layer of … Continue reading Salted Lime Bars

This is a variation on my lavender shortbread recipe, one of a series of floral and herbal shortbread cookies I’ve been experimenting with. Here, the star of the show is dried lemon verbena, an herb native to South America that was brought to Europe in the 17th or 18th century, and has been particularly popular … Continue reading Lemon Verbena Shortbread Cookies

Buttery shortbread cookies are the perfect medium for dried tea leaves, herbs, and flowers; their high fat content easily absorbs flavors. Inspired by spring, with all its blooming flowers, and a friend, who had picked up some dried lavender and wasn’t sure what to bake with it, I took a recipe for earl grey shortbread … Continue reading Lavender Shortbread Cookies

With bursts of chocolate throughout the dough, this challah tastes a lot like a chocolate babka, only sweeter and more moist, thanks to mashed, extra-ripe bananas. Like many traditional challah loaves, this one is topped with seeds. I chose a combination of poppy and black sesame seeds, but feel free to use whatever you have … Continue reading Banana Chocolate Chip Challah

I first tried seeded banana bread at a popular brunch spot, and sought to replicate it at home using my favorite banana bread recipe, from Food.com, as a starting point. I replaced butter with olive oil and threw in some mini dark chocolate chips. Just before baking, I sprinkled the batter with a medley of … Continue reading Seeded Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Semolina and finely ground pistachios add a nice crunch to these buttery shortbread cookies, which are a variation on an almond cookie recipe I developed last year. I was inspired to add semolina, a course flour made from durum wheat, after preparing nankhatai, a cookie popular in India and Pakistan. The recipe I used called … Continue reading Pistachio Semolina Shortbread Cookies